Act@Work

Challenging sexism, discrimination and violence against women.

Together we can reduce the rates of violence in our community, starting in the workplace.

Act@Work is an organisation-wide program developed by Women’s Health Grampians that provides intensive support to CoRE member organisations in the planning and implementation of an Action Plan and includes staff training across the organisation.

The program includes regular support from a WHG staff member to help drive initial progress and establishing systems for long term ongoing action that aligns CoRE work with the organisation’s core business and workforce. The intensive support is provided for approximately 6 months.

The program requires support at the leadership level, the formation of an internal Action Group, an organisational assessment, the development and implementation of an action plan, and periodic ongoing review. Actions to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the program form part of the action plan. Staff training in bystander action and community responsibility is also a key element of the program.

14 organisations are currently undertaking or have completed the Act@Work program

Ballarat Community Health

The Courier

Ararat Rural City Council

AME Systems (manufacturer)

Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Victorian Government Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Training and Resources

Golden Plains Shire Council

Vic Roads – Western region

Rural Northwest Health

Horsham Rural City Council

Yarriambiack Shire Council

West Wimmera Shire Council

Hindmarsh Shire Council

Uniting Wimmera

3,000+ employees in workplaces participate/d in the program

Estimated 3,000+ families touched by the workplace-based program

3000+ families interacting with other members in our communities

14 significant organisations in the region committed to comprehensive and meaningful action; leading systemic level changes that influence and shape our cultural norms, and reshape the safety, and opportunities for women.

If you would like more information about doing Act@Work at your workplace please contact your WHG Regional Consultant on 5322 4100 .

Violence against women, its prevalence, impacts and costs to society are at an all-time high and increasing. Rates of violence against women in Australia indicate that:

one in three women aged 15 years or older have experienced physical violence

approximately one in five women experience sexual violence.1

Violence against women is most likely to be perpetrated by a male person who is known to the woman; more specifically a current or former intimate partner. Of all Australian women physically assaulted in the last 12 months:

In Victoria, for women aged 15 – 44 years, violence is the greatest contributor to ill health and premature death, and has the most damaging effect on health, more damaging than other known risk factors such as smoking and obesity .[ii] In the workplace, the costs of violence against women are significant. By 2021 – 2022, intimate partner violence alone is projected to cost the Australian economy $15.6 billion annually, of which $456 million will be borne by employers.[iii] For more information about the rates and prevalence of violence against women in the Grampians region please refer to Violence against Women in the Grampians region – Policy, initiatives and a snapshot of data_December 2012.

Workplaces are an important part of people’s lives and they need to be safe. They are increasingly prominent sites for violence prevention and intervention. While most strategies focus on responses to victimisation, a growing number of organisations also engage in activities designed to prevent men’s violence against women. Workplaces can also be a site for social change and can be used as a catalyst for reaching men and women.

Workplaces can unintentionally contribute to violence against women in three ways:

Workplace gender inequalities – including unfair divisions of labour and power and norms of male dominance – which contribute to women’s economic and social disadvantage and men’s privilege. Workplaces thus can intensify the wider gender inequalities in which violence against women flourishes.

Workplace culture – can encourage and institutionalise violence-supportive social norms. Women in these institutions, or in contact with their members, face greater risks of victimisation, and the male members are more likely than other men to tolerate and perpetrate violence.

Workplace responses to women experiencing violence – workforces can contribute to violence against women through the ways in which they respond to employees who are victims of violence or its perpetrators.

Workplaces have the potential to influence both their internal cultures and the communities which surround them. By changing policies, practices and culture, an organisation can not only change from within, but also have an impact in surrounding communities, serve as an example for other organisations, influences wider policy and inform community norms.

Benefits for workplaces undertaking Act@Work

Evidence suggests that workplaces that take on health promotion activities will have happier and healthier employees and workplace cultures, will be able to attract the best people, and will increase their productivity (Vichealth, 2012). There is also strong evidence to suggest that there is a link between gender equality at an organisational level and corporate performance. This relates to business functions such as recruitment and retention of staff, minimisation of legal and reputational risk, as well as improving access to markets (www.wgea.gov.au ).

Businesses and organisations will also experience benefits in the following ways:

Workplace culture that supports respectful relationships

Safer workplaces; free from all forms of violence, discrimination and sexism

Respectful workplace behaviours; employees knowing when and how to intervene, and resolve conflicts

Policies and procedures that reflect gender equity for both men and women

Greater engagement and boosted staff morale

Support and information available to staff who may be experiencing, or have experienced, family violence

The Act@Work program is a comprehensive, organisation-wide, cultural change program. It requires support at leadership level, the formation of an internal Action Group, an organisational assessment, the development and implementation of an action plan (suited specifically to your organisation), and periodic ongoing review. Actions to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the program form part of the action plan. Actions are selected by the internal Action group and are based on the World Health Organisation’s healthy workplace model, identifying activity across four key areas:

This program was developed and piloted in 8 workplaces between 2012 -15 with funding from the Department of Justice and Regulation. Detailed, independent evaluation found there were substantial shifts in employees’ understanding of workplace and social behaviours that contribute to a culture of inequality and violence against women after completing the program.